As is well known, theft of motor vehicles is a crime that has reached epidemic proportions in recent years. It has been estimated that some vehicles, such as expensive sports cars, are subject to being stolen within minutes of being left on the street in some major U.S. cities. Simply locking the doors an effective deterrent to most car thieves. For this reason, vehicle anti-theft devices and systems have proliferated. These devices range from simple locks to sophisticated vehicle tracking systems that use a Global Tracking Network. While such devices have been somewhat successful, each has its own disadvantages. Some are so simple as to be easily circumvented; whereas, others are so expensive that only extremely expensive vehicles warrant use of such systems.
One form of anti-theft system that has been includes means for locking the vehicle steering system or locking the vehicle brake system whereby the vehicle cannot be moved without releasing the lock. U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,372 is an example of an anti-theft system that locks the vehicle brakes. Such systems generally include a solenoid that locks the brakes by controlling the hydraulic pressure of the brake system. The solenoid activated by a key system. Therefore, a vehicle owner is required to be physically present at the vehicle to activate the system. This may cause some problems, especially in a high crime rate area.
Still further, a solenoid by itself may not permit the vehicle owner to control the amount of braking that is applied by the anti-theft system. In some instances, the owner may want to set the braking system to prevent any wheel movement at all; whereas, in other cases, the owner may want to permit small movement of the wheels.
Therefore, there is a need for a vehicle anti-theft system that locks the brakes of the vehicle in a manner that permits the owner to set the desired degree of braking and will also permit the vehicle owner to activate or deactivate the anti-theft system remotely.